Immortals

“All men’s souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.”

The movie “Immortals” begins with this quote from Socrates and then opens with an eye-catching and attention grabbing vision of caged Titans that look more like caged, tortured monsters, and a man (who we later learn is the villain King Hyperion played by Mickey Rourke) with a magic bow releases the Titans from their imprisonment. This vision wakes the oracle Phaedra (Frieda Pinto), and, with worry and fear, she relays what she saw to her protectors. On to a village scene, where we find our hero Theseus (Henry Cavill), a Greek god skeptic speaking with an “old man” about his disbelief.

As we learn from the vision, the villain King Hyperion is on a quest to find the magic bow and release the Titans. King Hyperion hates gods because he believed the gods let his people die. So he wants to release the Titans, because he knows only Titans can kill the gods. In his journey to find the bow, King Hyperion kills our hero’s mother. Theseus, in an attempt to avenge his mother, is taken prisoner and meets the oracle, who then has a vision of Theseus and helps him and others escape. They then embark on an adventure of revenge and fate.

The visual artistry is brilliantly stunning from the start and keeps eyes glued. The story, however, is head-scratchingly befuddled. Even though I was visually hooked, I wasn’t really sure if I got what the plot was. The acting is impressive, but I felt they were hampered by bad writing and direction. Rourke and Cavill are appropriately cast, and I genuinely feared and disliked the villain and sympathized and cheered for the hero.

Objectionable content

The violence is beyond extreme, from the most gruesome of slayings, to men being mutilated by King Hyperion

There is an overtly graphic sex scene between Theseus and the oracle; nudity is shown. There are also several shirtless men.

When reading or viewing Greek mythology about gods it is only natural to try to draw comparisons to the God of the Bible. This a foolish task, because there is no comparison. The Greek gods are shown to be like fallen man, because they were created by fallen men. The Greek gods conflicted, apathetic and deistic in their very existence and look like they need salvation themselves, not to mention, these gods can be killed. The One True God of the Bible is Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and revealed the only way of salvation of mankind through the God-man Jesus Christ. Socrates was right, but the Bible gives us the biblical context. Our bodies are dust, but our soul will live forever, and we have the free will to choose where our souls will spend eternity (eternal life or eternal death).

“My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” —Psalms 84:2.

As for my recommendation, it’s a no go for me. The film’s plot (or lack thereof) is too inconsistent to warrant the cost of admission. While the eye candy scenes were enjoyable, it is quickly clouded by the gratuitous violence—not to mention the end left the audience with a collective “What does this mean?” at the end.

Violence: Extreme / Profanity: Minor / Sex/Nudity: Extreme

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.